Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Braintree Town’s library lends 6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Thayer Public Library serves Braintree Town’s 38,567 residents. Last year it lent 231K print books and media and logged 100K visits.
Braintree Town’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Thayer Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. Today’s library there has 30,440 square feet. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 608 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 227 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Braintree Town’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Braintree Town is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #197 of 283 in Massachusetts. Braintree Town’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($92K–$153K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
167 community nonprofits are registered in Braintree Town
4.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Braintree Town’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Braintree Town’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1978
Thayer Public Library, 798 Washington Street, Braintree.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Braintree Town? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Thayer Public Library
Thayer Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 21, 1978. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Renaissance Revival.
The Thayer Public Library is a public library located in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts with 102,000 books, 200 periodical subscriptions, and 8,000 videos, DVDs, music CDs, and audiobooks. The library is a member of the Old Colony Library Network.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Thayer Public Library serves 38,567 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
231K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 82K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Braintree Town last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Braintree Town cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 14,130 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Braintree Town ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quincy | Thomas Crane Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | — | C+ |
| Braintree Town | Thayer Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 57 | C+ |
| Weymouth Town | Weymouth Public Libraries fine-free | 4.6 | 76 | C+ |
| Randolph Town | Turner Free Library fine-free | 3.3 | 67 | C− |
| Holbrook | Holbrook Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 39 | C+ |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Thayer Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Braintree Town
Does Braintree Town have a public library?
Yes. Thayer Public Library, 798 Washington Street, serves Braintree Town’s 38,567 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Thayer Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Braintree Town’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 6.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Braintree Town’s civic life grade?
C+ Braintree Town is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #197 of 283 in Massachusetts. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Braintree Town.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.